Defensive rebounding was a major factor for us tonight. It wasn't until late in the second half that Clemson had their first offensive rebound. BTW, love the live stats that are on the boards at the JPJ (this was my first game I was able to attend this year.) The guards were staying back and collecting many of the boards (I think London had 6.)
I love the rotation where Tony starts Salt, plays him for about 6-8 minutes, then finishes the game with Tobey. The center for Clemson started the game trying to literally pound, push, and slug Salt inside, but Jack held his ground. I think Salt physically wore down their center early. Tobey seems to play better coming off the bench when he can watch the flow of the game and see what he needs to do inside. It's almost like Salt inspires him to play tougher.
Devon Hall played one of his best games in a Wahoo uniform. It wasn't just that he was making shots - he played with confidence on both ends of the floor. It's looking like he'll earn a permanent starting position if he keeps playing like this. Wilkins had a nice game as well.
Overall, our defense was definitely improved, but still needs work. Guys for the most part were moving their feet well and helping to keep Clemson out of the lane. I was shocked to see us switching occasionally on the defensive end. I guess if our guys can't fight through screens, then we have to adjust. Nice move by Bennett! Offensively, for stretches of the game, we were moving well and cutting hard, but then things would bog down, especially in the first half where we had kind of a strange lineup on the floor (I think it was Nolte, Reuter, Thompson, and 2 others.)
There's still a lot of work to do, but when you look around the conference and country and see good teams losing at home (Duke, Pitt,, etc.), I'm glad we are at least protecting our home floor. Had London been London at the free throw line (he had is right wrist bandaged?), this would have been a bit of a blowout.

When we lost to VT, I was totally deflated. I have not really been back to the board since then just because I know the negativty that can reign after such a game (and the subsequent losses). For me, it was not just that we lost, but it was the manner in which we lost that killed me. We had absolutely no energy and played with no discipline against our archrival who you just KNOW is going to do everything in their power to stick it to us. It reminds me of when I was at UVA back in the late 80s and early 90s when UNC came to town. The higher the ranking they had, the more certain we were of winning! Our inability to understand this as a team and then go to Blacksburg with neither energy nor discipline was a clear sign to me that this team really does not have "IT" at this point in time. Losing in the same manner to both GT and recently FSU while at the same time playing uninspired against Miami at home tells me that we are lost. I still believe we can find our way and I am not espousing doom and gloom yet, but we are not a good team right now and our apparent leader Malcolm is leading the charge into the abyss. Can Joe Harris have another meeting with Tony Bennett?

I keep seeing comments from people, on various boards, who feel like Coach K is far better than TB. Frankly, it's way too early to tell. However, so far, Bennett (at Virginia) has far surpassed the ferret (at Duke) during their first few years at their ACC schools.

It's important to note that Coack K took over a Duke program that was at the absolute top of the NCAA. Two years before he arrived, Duke played Kentucky for the National Championship. Duke was seeded in the top 4 for the 1979 NCAAs. In 1980 he came into a strong program that was at the apex.

But what did he do?

1980- 1981 Overall - 17–13; ACC - 6–8; Conference Rank - T-5th

1981–82 Overall - 10–17; ACC - 4–10; Conference Rank - T-6th

1982–83 Overall - 11–17; ACC - 3–11; Conference Rank - 7th

1983–84 Overall - 24–10; ACC - 7–7; Conference Rank - T-3rd (NCAA Round of 32)

1984–85 Overall - 23–8; ACC - 8–6; Conference Rank - T-4th (NCAA Round of 32)

Bennett arrived at a place that needed rebuilding. UVA basketball was nowhere close to the team that coach K inherited. We all know TB's record of success, which far surpasses Coach K in his initial years, particularly when judged against the task each had.

We are just starting to get looks from top-rated talent. We are not getting elite top 10 players, but we are getting looks from the next tier. We do not have a team stacked with McDonald's All Americans, but even next year, we have will have better-rated talent than in many, many years. Recruiting is on an upward trend.

It's tough to think of how many championships Duke has won and to think any coach could achieve that. However, if TB can keep up what he has done, and if we continue to improve our talent base, it's logical to predict he will be a peer of Coach K and mentioned with all those Hall of Famers as one of the best college coaches.

Yesterday's game prediction was almost perfect. The story ended with a prediction of UVa 69 Clemson 62. Brad blamed it on Justin.

In the second half, we seemed to change our defensive philosophy and we started to switch on high ball screens? I don't I think I've seen us do this in the last few years--we almost always hedge and rotate back. This seems to be a major change--it's almost like Tony has admitted defeat with this current group of bigs.

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After scoring 11 points in No. 13 UVa's 69-62 win over Clemson on Tuesday night, which was a career high for him in ACC play, redshirt sophomore guard Devon Hall talked about why he was able to contribute so well in his third career start and why the Wahoos had a little bit more fun in the victory than in recent weeks when their defense hadn't been as reliable.

Check out this month's Virginia Huddlecast where we feature the Cov & Tank show where we discuss the past, present and future of UVA Football; The Huddle Call with special guest Coach Mike London; and I final segment of Ask the Huddle where some of our supporters asked Coach London some very good questions. He is truly a class act. We hope that you enjoy it and please spread the word.

http://www.huddlecasts.com/#!virginia-huddle/cq1p

Buzzy Wilkinson had passed away. He was one of the all-time great players in college basketball. His 28 points a game average for his career is still an NCAA record and was achieved before the three-point shot. I played against him in an intramural league when he was in law school at UVA. He had the purest shot that I have ever seen.

Greetings from Charlottesville, where Clemson and No. 13 UVa will tip it up in about 15 minutes. I'll be back with starters in a few.

As always, have at it folks...

Good energy even though it bugs the crap out of me we don't put teams away up double digits.

Was LP sick or something? Just didn't play like himself.

AG has a huge issue not going straight up on shots when he should and either travels or misses the shot. He sometimes is getting very cute with his game and we just need him to finish in the basket.

TB had us switching on screens- I had a feeling this was coming at some point in the season as this team just isn't quick enough to recover on their own and a great coach will give up some of his philosophy to make it work for his team and he did just that at least against Clemson. It forced them to shoot threes at a rate they probably didn't want to.

Clemson is good. Maybe not a NCAA tournament team this year, but I wouldn't want to be on the bubble during the ACC tournament having to play these guys. He finally is getting the talent that goes with his coaching style and I can see why they've knocked off some teams. I also see why early in the season they lost some games that shouldn't have because it does take time for talent to gel.

Not sure I like Salt stating. Yes the kid plays hard and gives us tough minutes, but until he can finish at the rim I'd rather take my chances with Tobey.

IW will be a player next season. If you can consistently knock down that elbow jumper one or two times a game it really will make teams pay for sagging off him which opens up things for other guys.

Good game by MB. Still not crazy about some of his shot selection even if some of the shots did fall, but better understanding especially with LP not being himself of not forcing things and letting the game somewhat come to him.

Much needed win, but even more important that we take the next few days to really understand the moments where we have leads we need to finish off things because Saturday brings another challenge and is another must win. Tonight only get us over .500 in the conference, but gives us another quality win for tournament time.

I'll have notes from UVa's Tony Bennett here in a few. Follow this thread in a bit.

I know everyone is down on him and that he hasn't made a shot in what seems like weeks but I wouldn't sleep on him just yet. I think two of the more eye opening drives to the hoop were by him Sunday. I know he lost one out of bounds and the other was a missed layup but I was looking at my screen like...."is that Evan?" The aggressiveness is what we need and he as a senior knew that and at least had the courage to take it to the hoop. If he starts hitting a few of those, who knows. Also, if you can find it, check out the plus minus numbers provided by 4th year 5th elsewhere. Those numbers don't lie. If you find yourself wondering just why Tony keeps putting him into games, look no further than the plus minus.

(Just couldn't put this in the headline) Virginia Tech. The work they are doing in Flint Michigan, helping with the water situation goes far beyond sport or rivalry and we should all be proud of how they are representing the Commonwealth in this situation. Engineers are reportedly using their own or university money to help solve this lead water problem, show the cover up from that cities and states Dept s of Health and help adults and especially kids get fresh water. They have found water there that had lead levels (13, 200 parts per billion)more than double what would be considered toxic waste, and the city and state tried to cover it up. How despicable can people be?

I was born in 1981. My dad immediately indoctrinated me as a Yankees fan. My mom, at the same time, indoctrinated me as a Broncos fan. It was painful in the 80's and early 90's. It was pure joy for the 10 years after. To make a long story short, I've gotten used to seeing my sports teams at their very best and very worst.

I don't even claim to have wisdom, but I do think I've gotten more than my fair share of perspective over the years. I know the various fan bases tend to focus on how their own team is performing, but that's the wrong way of looking at it. You need to focus on how the entire sport is faring. Oklahoma lost on the road tonight. Next week, there will be a 6th team ranked number 1 before the end of January. I have no idea how far you need to go back, but I saw a stat that the last time there were 5 No. 1 teams before the end of January was in 1983.

I am the first person to say that there are problems with this team. What I hope the board will take away from this post is that you need to look at what is happening with college basketball as a whole this year. After tonight, only Xavier will have 1 loss. I'm not counting SMU because they're ineligible for the tourney and the fan base is out of their mind if they think it will last. THERE ARE ZERO TEAMS THAT WILL GO WITH 2 LOSSES OR LESS THIS YEAR. Most likely 3 or less.

UVA is a flawed team. So is every other team this year. Unless the NCAAT has gone to 25 teams or less, and I missed the memo, we are absolutely going to make the tourney. We may not get a 1 or 2 seed, but there is no team that we can't beat this year. We are dangerous in the tourney. Stay calm and we will eventually whether the storm.

P.S., for those of you who were making fun of me (namely the usual suspect) for cheering for every ACC team against every non-ACC team, this is why I do it. Boosting our RPI is always important. We won't ever be the 2014 Kentucky team, with 6 future NBA players, and cruise through the regular season. The reason why we haven't crashed in the polls is because of our superior RPI performance.

N.C. State beat Pitt handily, at Pitt. State's first conference win and Pitt's second loss. Gotta be focused every game, tough as that is. We need someone to beat UNC.

71

23 points from sophs tonight, with Wilkins and Hall in double digits. This was huge and what we need every game.

Caught second half after my HS game. Hate that we get relaxed with leads, but the ACC is no joke this year. Kudos to MB for stepping up his game. I hope this LP foul shooting is only a short deal. Can't afford him missing at the line late in games or the season.

The WAR ROOM is back and this quick-hitting edition is full of football recruiting scoop! The dead period is over and the Virginia coaches have hit the recruiting trail. Not only have they made current commits and shoring things up with them a big part of the focus but they've also started to fan out and try to add guys to UVa's 2016. Ahead of next weekend's big official visit weekend in Charlottesville, we'll focus in on a couple of notable recruitments and give you the latest on those and handicap what could be an intriguing run up to Signing Day.

As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!


Viramamontes is a big target for the Hoos

Last week in this space we talked about UVa's situation at quarterback in 2016 and how, even with one commit at the position, the new staff was still looking to add someone. And while we still see De'Vante Cross, the 6-foot-1, 184-pound signal caller from Allentown (PA) Parkland Senior, being a priority, there's no doubt right now that Virginia is also very into the idea of adding three-star California dual-threat QB Victor Viramontes. The 6-foot, 214-pound playmaker from Norco (CA) is pretty wide open right now, according to sources, and he's going to get a whole lot of attention in the coming weeks.

Quarterbacks coach Jason Beck made the trip out to Norco on Thursday and clearly, he and Viramontes had a great talk. The key now will be holding off the other schools in the mix. As of late Thursday night, Viramontes was planning to take an official visit to Utah this weekend. He apparently, as of now at least, has an event to go to next weekend and has a visit scheduled to Cal for the following weekend, meaning that if UVa wants to get him on Grounds it's probably going to need to be a mid-week deal. As of right now, we'd have to say that (or next weekend freeing up) is likely because Viramontes is really excited about the Cavaliers.

This is a good time to reiterate that while the weeks leading up to Signing Day have been relatively quiet for the Wahoos in recent years, most teams/fan bases don't get that. It's possible Viramontes could go to Utah this weekend and be off the board before Monday even gets here. Or, there's also a very real chance that he could stay uncommited, take more visits, or even decide not to sign on actual Signing Day. In recruiting, anything is always possible. The most likely scenario, of course, is that he commits to a school that he likes while he's on that campus, so it's important for the Hoos to keep carving out a niche and get him to Charlottesville. At that point, we can seriously start talking about the big picture.

Thus far, through their actions the staff has made it pretty clear that they like a lot of the talent they're getting in this class and the focus on potential additions is heavily at QB and at OL. Those are evidently the two spots on the roster that they feel like they need immediate other options in the pipeline, which leads us to believe that at least one more commit at each spot is coming in some way, shape, or form.

Ball heads to Florida State this weekend

One of the big names on the list of visitors next weekend when UVa hosts all of its 2016 commits is that of Rivals250 four-star offensive lineman Josh Ball, a long-time FSU commit. Virginia will certainly be looking to close this one out at that point but the question, given that the Stafford native will be in Tallahassee this weekend for his official visit, is whether or not he takes the trip to Charlottesville.

In talking to various sources over the past few weeks, we can tell you that it certainly sounds like the interest here is very genuine, that Ball is legitimately looking to make sure he's made the right decision, and the fact that UVa and NC State have been involved tells you a lot. The Wolfpack were in home this week and as of yet, we haven't heard where things stand as far as State getting an OV. For now, the focus for Ball will be taking the trip to FSU and then going to UVa, which obviously the Hoos are hoping he comes back without a changed itinerary for the remainder of his recruitment. As anyone who has followed recruiting well knows, committed guys often tend to cancel other visits after taking their official to the school they've committed to previously. At this point, we'll have to wait and see how sure of things Ball is when he gets back to the Commonwealth. Our best prognostication at this point, though, is that he follows through with the UVa trip. And that's when things really get interesting from where we sit.

Other OL options on the table?

While UVa has continued to work hard to get into the mix with several quality offensive line prospects committed elsewhere, the Cavaliers have also been looking at guys all over and that includes some lesser known players. OL coach Garett Tujague, much like his head coach, isn't wowed by stars. He's looking for fit. And there have been a couple of guys that have started to hear from Virginia, at least in terms of general contact. Offers at this point to guys like 6-foot-6, 290-pound Jefferson Forest lineman Ben Trent, for example, have yet to come but it certainly seems like Tujague is very much looking for additional help on the line. There's also a 6-foot-8, 300-pound kid at Tallwood, Jason Goosen, that we believe the Hoos have started to take a long look at so far. While fans might be more excited by the idea of a guy like Ball flipping or a legacy kid like Clark Yarbrough taking another look at UVa (we hear Tujague is pushing hard regardless whether he gets any traction or not), there's a chance the additions will be under-the-radar types that he believes fit what Virginia is going to look for going forward.

Any commits to worry about?

We thought we'd finish out this week with a quick note on who other schools might be looking to snag. We mentioned in this space a week ago that three-star Gilman School lineman Stephen Spanellis was getting some serious attention from Michigan and that an official visit was likely in the cards. We've been as of yet unable to get ahold of him, which as we've said before can sometimes be a sign of there being some fire where there's smoke or also it could mean absolutely nothing. We think if he decides to take the visit then it might mean things with UVa have ended. At this point, though, we don't have a definitive answer either way.

There's also the chance that another school could swoop in and try to poach some of the other guys and clearly, just from the new staff's personnel, you have to think Maryland is going to look at some of these guys. We wouldn't be shocked if they tried to make a run at Nick Grant, though we think the Courtland star ultimately sticks with his commitment. If you'll recall, UMd also offered legacy linebacker commit Landan Word. We still haven't heard of any traction on that front, though.

Lastly, one guy I think we can officially put in the "done" territory following his in-home visit with Bronco Mendenhall and Nick Howell is Florida native Deedrick Daniels. Because of the other Sunshine State guys that had decommitted previously, Daniels was someone we were a tad worried about, at least until we caught up with him this week. He was solid before Virginia's coaches made their way down to Tampa to talk to the versatile playmaker but he absolutely raved about the trip. We point this out partly to say that Daniels is no longer a guy we think you should worry about but also too to make the point that clearly, Mendenhall and his staff are doing a much better job on the recruiting trail at making impressions and doing the recruiting thing well than a lot of people gave them credit for early on. We'll have to wait and see about the results but the change in location hasn't seemed to hurt them in terms of wowing kids and their families so far. And obviously, that's great news for UVa going forward.

That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!